Examining the Intersection of Poverty, Science Curriculum Access, and Educational Inequality in Rural North East Nigerian Secondary Schools: A Critical Policy Analysis

This study critically examined the intersection of poverty, science curriculum access, and educational inequality in rural secondary schools in the North East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The North East represents one of Nigeria's most educationally disadvantaged regions, compounding the science education landscape with extreme resource scarcity, post-conflict disruption, and structural poverty. A critical policy analysis design was employed. Document analysis of federal and state science education policies from 2014 to 2024 was combined with critical ethnographic fieldwork in 12 rural secondary schools across Borno, Yobe, and Gombe States. Forty semi-structured interviews with teachers, students, education officers, and community leaders were conducted. Critical discourse analysis and social reproduction theory informed the analytical framework. Findings revealed that current science education policy systematically reproduces educational inequality by distributing curriculum resources and qualified teachers in patterns that disadvantage rural poor communities. Students from the poorest households demonstrated near-total exclusion from practical science due to uniform fee structures and equipment deficits. The study proposes a Rights-Based Science Education Policy Framework for post-conflict North East Nigeria that centres equity, access, and contextual relevance. Keywords: educational inequality, poverty, science curriculum, North East Nigeria, critical policy analysis.